Firefighters and other emergency service workers who actively work in extreme environments (e.g., in the presence of low visibility, high temperature, high pressure, high toxicity, high auditory intensity or low oxygen content) often utilize a “buddy touch” system; wherein a lead worker sets a path on hands and knees, and each succeeding worker maintains touch contact with the preceding worker's legs or other extremities, while sweeping his/her own limbs to locate victims and/or obstacles. During this procedure, which is both slow and dangerous, a fire hose and/or emergency service delivery line and/or communications line may be pulled along as well to serve immediate emergency needs and to serve as an escape path. Given the possibility for encountering local extreme environments (heat pockets, high toxic chemical content, collapsed areas, etc.) and/or the possibility of escape path blockages, a safe, reliable and low cost alternative is clearly needed that also provides information to command and control personnel concerning (1) the present condition of the active workers, (2) the present conditions in and around the incident site, and (3) the present conditions adjacent to a chosen escape path.
What is needed is a communication system that facilitates reliable communication of information, including location and present condition of the active worker(s), local temperature and other relevant local environmental variable values and relevant changes in these values between one or more persons within an extreme environment and one or more sub-systems located outside this extreme environment. Preferably, the system should be flexible so that the variables whose values are communicated can be changed by one of the communicators and should permit both automatic reporting and volitional reporting.